World Triathlon Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a for-profit corporation which organizes, promotes and licenses the world-famous Ironman Triathlon series of triathlon races. WTC is also the owner of numerous "Ironman" and related trademarks used both in connection with the Ironman race series and in conjunction with various goods and services.
The Ironman race series culminates each year in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championships, held each year in Kailua-Kona on the Island of Hawai‘i.
WTC Ironman races are not sanctioned by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and are therefore not official triathlon world championships in the view of ITU. However, WTC and the Ironman Triathlon have been in existence longer than the ITU, and the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon is considered by most to be the most prestigious event on the annual triathlon calendar.
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[edit] History
In 1990, Lew Friedland assisted Dr. James P. Gills in the acquisition and purchase of the World Triathlon Corporation. Friedland subsequently served as a member of the Board of Directors and as Vice President of WTC until his promotion to President in 1998.
Throughout his tenure, Friedland attended more than a dozen Ironman Triathlon World Championship races in Kona, Hawaii. After celebrating the successful 25th anniversary of the Ironman Triathlon in 2004, Friedland expressed interest in significantly reducing his role and amount of travel.
Ben Fertic, formerly Vice President of Information Systems, succeeded Friedland as President of WTC in 2004. Fertic, an Ironman finisher, joined WTC in 2000 and has been heavily involved in the business operations and day-to-day decision making for WTC. During Fertic's tenure as VP, he was instrumental in creating Ironman Live, the online presence of the Ironman Triathlon, which helped bring the race's online presence and the races themselves to a new level, including online video streaming of the events.
[edit] Location
WTC is headquartered in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
[edit] Licensing
The WTC licenses the Ironman and Ironman Triathlon logo and other related marks to various corporations for use in their product lines. An example is the licensing to Timex Corporation of the Ironman Triathlon logo for use in the Ironman Triathlon watch line that includes the Timex Ironman Datalink series of GPS type watches.
